Over 100 killed during Syria’s troubled population transfer

The blast ripped through a bus depot in the al-Rashideen area where thousands of government loyalists evacuated the day before waited restlessly for hours, as opposition fighters guarded the area while negotiators bickered over the completion of the transfer deal. Only meters away, hundreds of evacuees from pro-rebels areas also loitered in a walled-off parking lot, guarded by government troops. A stalled population transfer resumed Saturday after a deadly explosion killed at least 100, including children, government supporters and opposition fighters, at an evacuation point — adding new urgency to the widely criticized operation.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack but pro-government media and the opposition exchanged accusations, each pointing to foreign interference or conspiracies undermining the deal on civil population evacuation but there’s still a deep experts’ confidence in opposition’s mark in this heinous crime.

We strongly condemn this inhuman act of aggression against civilians. Both sides of this armed confrontation should act reasonably to avoid human victims and initiate peace talks as soon as it may be possible.